A strange thing happened today as I was jogging slowly round our neighborhood lake, Lake of the Isles. A diminutive older woman was trying to catch my attention. She announced proudly in a Russian accent that she was voting for the Republican candidate for President. “Very good, very good” she declared to prove her case. By… Continue reading A Strange Election
Author: Tom Wilson
Dreaming of Circling the Globe
The other day I found myself poring over this Google map. Each red dot marks a place I’ve visited in the past four years. Google has been watching me. Some places don’t count: in Seoul I was in transit to Busan, in Salt Lake City we were on our way to Palm Springs, and in… Continue reading Dreaming of Circling the Globe
Our Annual Walk on Fall Leaves
Every October, after the peak of Fall foliage has subsided, we head up to the North Shore of Lake Superior to walk sections of the Superior Hiking Trail. We like this time of year: the trails are uncrowded, the temperatures are good for hiking, and mosquitoes are done for the year. Besides, we don’t need… Continue reading Our Annual Walk on Fall Leaves
My Most Expensive Night Away from Home, Ever
Notes: In the above infographic I used a stock photograph of surgery being performed using a da Vinci robot, a device that costs about $2 million. July 2016, a surgeon operated a da Vinci on me via five small incisions. I was glued to the table: alcohol was sprayed on my back to activate… Continue reading My Most Expensive Night Away from Home, Ever
Walking in the Company of Crows
Jigokudani (Hell Valley), Shikotsu-Toya National Park Between flights at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport I noticed a comment on my Beyond the Narrow Road to the Deep North blog post. The writer recommended a book, Ainu Folk Tales. The Ainu are the indigenous people of Hokkaido. Much of their culture is handed down verbally from generation to generation… Continue reading Walking in the Company of Crows
Let’s Play “Which Button Do I Press?”
Question 1: Which button do I press to dispense hot water? A Japanese hotel room is an oasis from the complexity of navigating Japan. I can kick back, have a nice cup of tea, and calmly plan my next adventures. Or can I? Most Japanese hotel rooms have buttons you need to press to complete… Continue reading Let’s Play “Which Button Do I Press?”
Mt. Asahidake: Shapes in the Mist
The cable car goes part-way up Mt. Asahidake in central Hokkaido. I took it to reduce my round-trip hike to the summit to 3½ hours. When I started out from the cable-car station, I could not see the summit, but I expected the sky to clear as the day warmed up. Sulfurous steam vents did… Continue reading Mt. Asahidake: Shapes in the Mist
A Place Where Two Seas Collide
Getting to Rishiri Island via Wakkanai (northern Hokkaido) from Minneapolis is straightforward, with a few perturbations. A place where the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk collide is bound to have perturbations. An agent at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport warned me the flight to Wakkanai might have to turn back. I was sure… Continue reading A Place Where Two Seas Collide
Beyond the Narrow Road to the Deep North
I’m drawn to places at the end of train lines. Today, my backpack and I head to Wakkanai in the north of Hokkaido. It’s as far north as you can go without entering Russia. Until about 150 years ago, Hokkaido was almost completely wilderness. The indigenous Ainu were able to live somewhat traditional lives while under… Continue reading Beyond the Narrow Road to the Deep North
Fictional Hokkaido
I was on a train, traveling through darkness. The elderly woman next to me asked if it would be OK if we chatted. She was on her way to her home on Shikoku having stayed with friends on Honshu. I was returning to my base after cycling on bridges and islands across Japan’s Inland Sea.… Continue reading Fictional Hokkaido